Meralco hikes power rate anew in October

MANILA, Philippines — Customers of Manila Electric Co. would see higher power bills for the seventh straight month in October due to bigger transmission costs.

In a statement on Friday, the largest power distributor in the country said the overall rate for a typical household “slightly” inched up by P0.0283 per kWh. The adjustment means a residential customer consuming 200 kWh would see an increase of around P6 in the total bill.

Explaining the higher rate, Meralco said it paid higher ancillary service charges to National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the grid operator. In turn, transmission charge for residential customers increased by P0.0282 per kWh this month.

Offsetting the increase in transmission costs was the slightly lower generation charge this month, which went down by P0.0004 per kWh. According to Meralco, better supply conditions brought down prices in the spot market by P1.2061 per kWh.

At the same time, independent power producers charged P0.0527 per kWh less to Meralco, although the cost of using alternative liquid fuel during the Malampaya gas supply restriction in September was not yet included in the charges and will be billed in subsequent months.

Charges from power supply agreements, where Meralco typically gets most of the energy it needs, went up by P0.3156 per kWh due to higher fuel prices, which was worsened by a weak peso.

Apart from lower generation charges, Meralco said the higher transmission costs in October were also tempered by an ongoing refund by the company amounting to P13.9 billion that began in March and will be given in 24 months.

Amid the increase, the power distributor said disconnection activities remain on hold in areas under stricter community quarantine measures. Specifically, Meralco won’t cut unpaid power lines in Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Lucena City in Quezon, which will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine until October 15.

Likewise, services won't be cut for Meralco customers with overdue bills and are living in areas under granular lockdowns in Metro Manila also until October 15.